As I can see it, there are two excellent books out there to get introduced into this subject.

Race Car Vehicle Dynamics (Milliken, Milliken)
Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics (Gillespie)

I've heard good things about both. Has anyone read both, and if so, which would you recommend? I'm only going to buy one, so I want broad, practical, but technically accurate. I want the relevant math in there, but I want good conceptual info too.

Dave

 

I wouldn't "introduce" someone with either of those books. They are advanced and require the understanding of some basic concepts along with lots of math.

For someone just stepping in I'd recommend Paul Valkenburgh's "Racecar Engineering & Mechanics" and Carroll Smith's "Tune to Win". These are both geared towards the layman and are much easier to digest IMO.

 

What he said.^

 

I guess I don't know where I stand in terms of being ready for these 'advanced' books. I'm introducing myself, so with my BSME I'm doing generally well in terms of background, but very little is automotive specific.

I think I'll buy the Valkenburgh book first since it's cheap.

Dave

 

If you're studying to be an ME there won't be anything there you haven't seen before. My advice isn't because I think you brilliant or stupid, it's about getting a grasp for what the concepts are and how they relate to eachother. The original books you listed are excellent books, but they are advanced texts which compartmentalize the concepts and components. They will answer questions but if you don't know how to form a good question in the first place they won't help much. Does that make any sense?

IMO vehicle dynamics is absolutely one of those things where you don't realize how much you don't know until you begin trying to understand it.

 

I agree about Smith's books. They seem small, but you will be hard pressed to really learn and understand what is in them. There was a paper on the internet some time ago called "Physics of Racing". That is good stuff as well. We used those to design an FSAE car and did very well with it. The Milliken book is a good one too, but it is intense enough it can be difficult to get information out of it without really studying it.

 

I can relate completely. I'm planning to buy the Valkenburgh book for some warm-up reading and move on from there. It's entirely possible that his book is all I'll need for some time. I just don't want dumbed-down material that simplifies to the point of losing relevance.

On a related note, I'd also like to dig into some details of tires. Would you recommend the tire book by Paul Haney (Racing & High Performance Tire), or John Dixon's "Tires, Suspension, and Handling"?

The Haney book comes recommended, but a reviewer said it was inconsistent with the current body of knowledge held by SAE.(?!) Is that charge overblown?

Dave

 

I own every book listed in this thread. I've found that the books get more and more expensive as you progress

wardaj, thank you for mentioning "The Physics of Racing"; forgot about that one. It's in the Suspension and Handling links sticky. Excellent reading and it's free!

Brian Beckman's "The Physics of Racing"

I think Haney's book on tires is excellent. Everything you do with the vehicle and the driver is with the intent of getting peak performance out of the tire. Anyone who doesn't spend some time studying tires is missing a lot IMO.

Get the Valkenburgh book. If you like that one get Smith's "Tune to Win". If you like that one buy the rest of Smith's books After that you'll have your own ideas of where you wish to go.

There's lots of free info in the Suspension and Handling links sticky.

 

bingo! we had datalogging in the car this year, honda challenge integra, and its shared with 2 drivers, the results have been kind of eye opening. its all about the tire, #2 is driver comfort....